


Holding Cataclysms

by dasakuryo



Category: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016), Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: Rebels
Genre: Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff and Humor, Mild Smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-13
Updated: 2017-04-13
Packaged: 2018-10-18 06:20:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,431
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10611033
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dasakuryo/pseuds/dasakuryo
Summary: Not only does she have to share this mission with no other than Bridger, but what was supposed to be a simple gathering of intell goes awry. Jyn Erso finds herself with bounty hunters on her tail, with no way of knowing if Cassian's been captured. One thing she's certain, if she did not lose him on Scarif, she's not going to lose him to a bunch of bounty hunters -not even if they answer to the Empire. //{fill for rebelcaptainsprompt #9 prompt, competition}





	

**Author's Note:**

> Rogue One and the Ghost crew would have had the most delightful dynamic and you can't convince me otherwise.

"So, do you come here often?"

Jyn snorted and flashed the young man a glare of half-lidded eyes. Reaching for her drink, she pressed her lips together in a pucker. But her interlocutor had clearly not registered her indifference and, if he had, he most certainly didn't seem to care. Her lower lip jutted out.

"Get lost, Bridger," she scoffed, swinging up the glass. And without any further words, she swivelled around in her stool and turned to face the cantina crowd, back against the counter and elbows resting on its edge.

Over the buzz of ambient chatter and music, she heard Ezra Bridger let out a dry chuckle.

"Easy there, Erso. I was just making small talk," he argued, grabbing his bantha blaster and taking a gulp of the greenish beverage, wiggling his eyebrows at her from above the glass rim, "to help pass the time."

It was Jyn's turn to cock an eyebrow. She tilted her head and shot him another glare with puckered lips over her shoulder, before retorting in an amused tone laced with nothing but sarcasm, "don't you have more important things to do to pass the time right now than bothering me, Bridger?" she snorted again, "like, I don't know— putting those skills of yours to good use so we can get off this kriffing ball of dust would be a nice start," she swallowed a gulp of her drink, grimaced at the alcohol burning her throat, "don't you think?"

He had the nerve to flash her a condescending smile.

"It doesn't work like that."

Jyn sucked her cheeks in before shooting back an equally condescending, "it escapes me why you'd to tag along then, really."

Jyn still didn't understand why they had chosen Bridger, of all people, to join the mission. If anyone asked Jyn, it made literally no sense whatsoever. The commander was a Jedi, or as close as one could get those days with the Jedi Order in shambles; the skills that made him valuable to the Rebellion weren't precisely the skills he could put to good use in an intelligence mission, when the whole idea was remaining undetected. Not to mention that Bridger's record of both undercover and intelligence missions had a surprisingly high record of going awry —not that Jyn had gone through Cassian's data-pad, of course. She shouldn't have access to the files, since she wasn't the leader of the whole operation. Cassian may also be unaware that she was now no stranger to those facts.

"Seems Andor isn't making much progress either," he commented.

Jyn would have smacked him, but figured that with those enhanced reflexes of his he would have seen it coming from a mile away. She wasn't precisely in the mood to end up making a fool of herself, and much less to Bridger, of all people —not to mention that even the smallest of fights could draw attention or escalate into a fight of unknown proportions in the blink of an eye.

So instead, Jyn blew out a noisy breath. Cassian was nowhere in sight. Drumming her fingers on the glass, she tried to stash away the worry building up in the back of her mind. After all, Cassian had conducted plenty of these missions for years, testing the waters and reading people came naturally to him. There was nothing for Jyn to grow restless over —her comm hadn't beeped either.

Out of the corner of her eye, she caught sight of Ezra twiddling his fingers.

"You can go check, you know," Jyn said casually, gulping down the remaining liquor in her glass.

"Can't leave you alone," Ezra muttered, scanning the crowd with acute squinted eyes.

Jyn huffed and rolled her eyes at the ridiculous insinuation.

"I can take care of myself alright, Bridger," she practically hissed.

"I'm sure of that," he answered. Jyn frowned at the graveness of his voice, devoid of the tinge of amusement that had pervaded it during the previous exchange, "but I don't trust those guys," his voice lowered.

Jyn followed the line of his gaze and saw a small group of males looking in their direction. She cursed under her breath. She'd counted eight, although the dim lights could be playing tricks on her and they could be more —or less. What Jyn was certain of was that there were at least four humans and two zabraks, who didn't strike her neither as natives of the planet nor as tourists. At all.

For all that matter, Jyn was absolutely certain that Tatooine would not be a tourist destination for any creature with at least an ounce of brains and sensibility in the galaxy.

That assessment didn't leave her with many options.

Jyn munched down another curse. Ever since the Empire discovered Jyn Erso had survived Scarif, they'd placed a bounty on her head... those males could be either bounty hunters or assassins, and neither of the alternatives suited well with her, especially not when all she had on her was a blaster.

She didn't like Bridger, but she certainly and positively _hated_ him when he was right.

"You are exaggerating," Jyn said, more to convince herself that there wasn't yet another looming threat piling up on top of all her other worries and concerns.

The dim yellowish light stole a bronze gleam from his face, the brightness had been enough for her to catch him grimacing. His face had contorted abruptly, wrinkles around the eyes and mouth.

"For once, Erso, I wish you were _right_ about something."

If it hadn't been for the gravity of the situation, Jyn would have probably punched him. It was when Jyn saw what looked pretty much like a small portable holopad projector on the table that her stomach clenched. Suddenly the mission had taken a turn. Jyn needed to contact Cassian. She had no way of knowing whether they'd spotted him too. Considering their numbers, they could pretty well be on the hunt for both of them.

All of a sudden, the fact Cassian hadn't get through the comm for over forty minutes was alarming. She flexed her fingers, still grabbing the empty glass, eyes moving swiftly scanning the crowd. Jyn bit her bottom lip, scanning the room before her again. She paid no mind to the pain piercing right were she was mercilessly pricking herself with her teeth.

Ezra was still beside her, but there was a tension to his shoulders that wasn't there five minutes ago. Jyn noticed how his hand had went from resting on his thigh to lay hovering over the edge of the counter, his elbow practically touching Jyn's arm. She wondered whether she should be worried Ezra's fingers were twitching, as if pressing invisible keys in the air —she remembered the stories her mother had told her, of Jedi who summoned their lightsabers to their hands with mere thought.

The feeling of the comm in her hand was equal parts soothing and nerve-wrecking.

She swivelled around on her stool and asked the Rodhian for another drink. She hunched over the counter, cupping her mouth with her hand, fingers prickling at her cheek. She eyed Ezra out of the corner of her eye; his expression remained calm, but there was a harsh line sweeping across his jaw. Her breathed sigh was warm on her face, the pressure of her index fingers on her nose bridge turned firmer. Her thumb balanced over the comm's button, fingertip almost brushing against it.

She glanced sideways to her left, were Ezra kept watch over the crowd. She could wait. She could follow orders. The problem was that Jyn had a pretty good reason not to, she had a pretty good reason to toss the chain of command out the window. Cassian would probably look down on such a decision and argue she was loosing focus of the bigger picture, he would probably growl and argue that risking getting valuable intell —that they may not had a chance to get ever again— because their lives may be a stake wasn't reason enough. Then again, Cassian's sense of loyalty had a tendency to always put the mission —the rebellion— first, even when it meant doing so before his own safety—

And while Jyn understood and respected his commitment to the cause; she had lost enough people in her life already. Jyn had made peace with the fact the fight, this war, might cost him greatly, she had made peace with the always lingering threat that he might not return from a mission.

They were weighing a war against the Empire.

But if the Force will was that Jyn was to lose Cassian eventually, then it wouldn't be like this. She wasn't going to lose him to a group of bounty hunters.

Not to mention said bounty hunters could have orders of taking him to Imperial officials, or the Citadel, or to Darth Vader himself—

So in a way, she thought as her thumb hovered closer to the button, by opening the comm channel she would be safeguarding the mission and the Alliance, the galaxy's, best interest and future. She could deal with Cassian later.

But when she was about to press the small switch, there was a sharp tug at her jacket sleeve, pulling and dragging her off. In came Ezra's voice, "we need to move, now."

A quick glance to the table, now empty, made her swallow. She followed his lead and got off her seat as naturally as she could, even though adrenaline was pulsing hard in her chest. The comm was quickly back in the hidden inner pocket of her vest, her hand found its way to the concealed holster at her hip. Feeling the cold metal of the blaster butt brought back a sense of security and calmed down her racing heartbeat —even though her restlessness wasn't over her security, but rather at another uncertainty. Ezra's grasp on her shoulder tightened each time they dodged someone. Jyn kept glancing sideways every so often, trying to make out something amidst the darkened space, senses sharpened on the lookout of anything, or anyone, suspicious.

A shiver climbed up her spine when they set foot outside. The tiny sand quartz crystals scrunched under her weight. The sky above was a deep shade of purple, dotted with stars, and the only light on the street was coming from a lamp a few meters to their left. Judging by the way the feeble reddish light quivered, it could go out any time soon.

"Keep moving," Ezra hushed, practically shoving her forward.

Jyn practically dug the heels of her boots in the sand.

"What about Cassian?"

"I am sure your boyfriend can take care of himself just fine," Jyn gnashed her teeth, but figured arguing against the insinuation on the statement was futile, making them lose precious time they didn't have the luxury of wasting, "we need to get back to the ship."

"What if they have him?"

"Unlikely. They wouldn't be after us," Jyn didn't attempt to turn to look over her shoulder, he would be blocking more than half her view already limited by the lack of light. "Your boyfriend is a heavyweight, and as far as the Empire is concerned," there was a pause, a dab on her side as he gestured to take the next turn to the left, "he's a more valuable asset than you."

Jyn absolutely hated it when Bridger was right.

There was far more valuable information they could get from Cassian, who'd spend years and years amidst the alliance,that they could ever get from her to strike a heavy blow against the rebellion. Not to mention that the scheme the bounty hunters seemed to have in mind posed yet another problem for them and the entire Rogue One team. Jyn muffled a curse through clenched teeth; how the kriff had they figured out that—

"There's no use worrying about that," when Ezra muttered and broke the silence she nearly jolted, "the fact is that they know. And if they are following us, they have clearly failed to capture him and want to use you as leverage. Best thing we can do right now is keep moving."

Jyn drew in a slow, steady breath before retorting, "so you keep saying. We don't know for sure they haven't captured him already," and even in the haste of their quickened and increasingly frantic pace, she reached for the comm in her jacket pocket.

She heard the brief breathy sound of a chuckle behind her. Her hand clenched around the comm.

"They jammed all channels, don't waste your breath, Erso."

"Stop doing that," she grunted, managing to stop herself from rolling her eyes.

"Then stop putting it so easy to me," in came that unnerving amused tone of his that was clearly uttering around a chuckle. The breath she blew out rattled her lips. "Your emotions are all over the place in the Force, Erso. All I need to do is tap into them and I can drive you up the wall— I know Saw Gerrera taught you better than that."

Jyn didn't know what was stretching her nerves to a breaking point more, if the looming sense of danger or Bridger being a smartass using those Jedi mind powers of his. She pressed herself against the wall, leaning over the edge of the wall to peer into the street. She heard the rustle of footsteps on the sand, felt the leather of Bridger's jacket brushing her hand. A click, and then the familiar curve of the A180 handle fitting into the curve between her thumb and index finger.

She turned her head in his direction to face him. Squinting at him, her lips curled into a dismissive sneer.

"I could just shoot you, you know," she reasoned, twitching her lips into a pucker and tapping the side of the barrel on her chin once.

"I'd love to see you try, Erso," the words slid out of his mouth softly, and Jyn would have liked nothing but to wipe that boastful smug off his face.

They paced down the streets towards the outskirts of town. Under normal circumstances, they would have tried to blend in and get lost into a crowd, but this part of Mos Eisley had a marked Imperial presence. Crowded places implied more Stormtroopers; a risk they couldn't take, not when the bounty hunters themselves were most likely working for the Empire. Which meant they had to take alternative, less lit routes out of the city. Jyn found herself looking up every few steps, squinting her eyes, gaze darting from rooftop to rooftop, trying to make out something among the shadows.

She rolled her shoulders and hastily arranged the scarf to cover her face. It was a still, quiet night. Her grip on the blaster tightened as she stomped down the remaining meters until the next turning. It was a clear, open one, no buildings at each street corner. The kyber crystal bounced on her chest like an extension of her own heartbeat.

It all happened too fast.

She heard the beep of the detonator. There was heat engulfing her and then a blast swept her off her feet, hurling her forward with breath-taking force. Jyn felt as if she was being stabbed by thousands of sharp vibro-blades digging into and tearing at her skin. Out of reflex, she closed her eyes and waited for the scorching pain the moment the shrapnel hit her.

 

Instead, she landed on her side with a thud, blaster almost sliding from her grasp.

Puzzlement clouded her mind and the world kept spiralling before her eyes. She was breathing. It felt as if the skin of her side had been peeled off, burning, blazing, as if it was nothing but raw flesh in contact with her clothes. The world kept spiralling in blurs. She could hear nothing but buzzing and faint unintelligible echoes reverberating in her head.

As her fingers clutched the blaster she squeezed her eyes shut. Sucking in a sharp breath, Jyn managed to wobble to her feet. She nearly tripped over, then found herself blowing her cheeks out the moment she stretched her arm out in a clumsy effort to keep her balance, when the stab of pain swept through her as her hand stopped putting pressure on the wound.

There was an odd sound she couldn't match to anything, that rose above the blaster bolts, the insults, the voices and the noise of the fight. Her mind still whirled from the blast. Even so, Jyn caught flicker of movement to his left. Without a second thought, she lifted the blaster and pulled the trigger.

Manoeuvring through her haze, she dodged and pressed herself against a crate. She blinked repeatedly, in an effort to get rid off the bleariness in her gaze. Her grip around the blaster tightened, fingers and knuckles turning white. She could distinctively hear the sounds of heavy footsteps approaching, a pace and a sound that did not belong to Ezra —or to Cassian, for that matter. She peered over the side, and saw the profile of a Zabrak skirting and stealthing its way around. Her gaze now finally focused, Jyn didn't miss the thermal detonators clasped to the belt.

That didn't leave her with many options. Either she could wait to ambush him, striking a blow with her baton as soon as he took the turn; or she could furtively go around the crate and get him from behind. The first option was the most tempting, not only because she knew she stood more chances in hand-to-hand combat, but because being this close to her the Zabrak wouldn't be able to resort to the use any weaponry against her and she would not be too exposed, avoiding giving room to the other bounty hunters to attack her. The only problem is that he could still roll a thermal detonation in her direction—

A clink. Jyn gritted her teeth and dashed away. She heard the explosion going off behind her. As soon as she heard movement about, she shifted all her weight to one side. When she turned, the zabrak was within reach. She got advantage of the momentum and hammered him across the chest with her arm. The Zabrak heaved and faltered, even let go the blaster that met the ground with a clank. Tightness wrapped around Jyn's jaw as one of her feet spin around its axis, the other foot soon off the ground with a rustle. The impact of her kick on her opponent sent shaking tremors up her leg, she swallowed down the whine that climbed up her throat when the muscles stiffened on the strained spot scarred by the blaster wound.

She let out a guttural growl instead, seething with rage, charged against the Zabrak one more time. Him, already on the brink of losing his balance, only aimed to raise his blaster. Jyn drew herself away from its target with a unerring swing of her wrist that collided with the barrel, flinging it upwards and away.

But she miscalculated.

Jyn howled when the Zabrak headbutted her. Stabs of pain swept through her as the horns dug into and tore her skin. She hissed out a groan through clenched teeth, clutching at the alien leather jacket to keep him from drawing away and bounce back. She was barely conscious of the scarlet spidery web painting her face. The zabrak, taken by surprise with the outcome of his strategy, froze for a second.

And a second was all that Jyn needed. Even amidst her muddled sight and mind, her hands found their way to grip firmly the sides of the zabrak head and gave a sharp downward pull as her leg thrust up. She gritted her teeth when the chin met her thigh. A thump and a crack. She felt the force of the blow clinging to her femur, seeing red.

The Zabrak flopped limply on the ground with another thud, a ruffle of leather and the clinking of metal. Still. Unmoving.

It wasn't until she tasted the iron on her lips that she realised the wounds on her forehead were deep enough to bleed. Eyelids heavy, eyes involuntarily drifted shut for a fleeting second, her ragged breathing reduced to nothing but puffing and panting. One down.

She limped to nearest foyer for cover. Still panting, she flattened herself against the wall. Her fingers fidgeted with the metal of the blaster, a quick glance to the energy cell got a weight off her shoulders. But when her gaze darted from her weapon to Bridger, her stomach clenched. She counted four figures circling around him—

It didn't take her long to find the fifth.

_Saw Gerrera taught you better than that._

Kriff.

Staring at the round beam emitter, she swallowed hard. The zabrak at the opposite end of the disruptor rifle had his lips curled into a sneer, so wide, that he was baring his teeth. His fingers must be already brushing the trigger, judging by his lidded look of satisfaction. All thrust-out chest and smugness, he pressed the canyon on Jyn's bloodied and wounded forehead. A biting remark slid out his mouth, of which Jyn's rusty Huttesse could only understand sleemo. Her heart pounded in her ears when the metal grazed down her neck and chest, the cold biting through the layers of clothing and sending a shiver down her spine. The canyon tapped once on her chest, right on her heartbeat.

 

There was a flash of green light, a sizzling sound and an acrid smelled filled the air as the plasma met flesh. The limp body plunged to the ground below. A circle of golden and red embers were eating away at the cloth and darkened flesh.

In a heaved pant, Jyn blew out the breath she didn't know had sucked in.

Bridger clasped his lightsaber back to his belt.

Jyn, her breathing still uneven and ragged, looked up and flashed Ezra a brief grin.

"Look at that, Bridger, you did do something useful, for a change," she breathed out around a dry, soulless laughter.

To Ezra's credit, he convened with a chuckle of his own.

"Well, according to my assessment," his head jerked to the side, right where the other four bounty hunters lay on the ground, "seems I've won this round of the competition, Erso."

Jyn found herself being rose to her feet by an alien pull, which unlike last time, was gentle on her. And as if the Force had enough room for one more miracle, she heard the distinctive drowned beep of the comm. Her fingers quickly gripped out of the vest pocket.

"We're fine," she practically let out a shaky laughter into the comm receptor, gasping,"we're fine," Jyn ran a jerky hand through her hair, her voice kept trembling.

* * *

 

"Thank you," Cassian almost whispered, his face softening as he dipped the cloth into the kolto; he didn't break eye contact with her, not even when he squeezed the corner to get the excess liquid out.

Jyn sucked in a breath, preparing herself for the stinging feeling of the cloth brushing the wound and the kolto coming in contact with the gash. Instead of hissing, she found herself replying in a rather —pained— shaky breath, "what for?"

She'd closed her eyes to keep any drop of the liquid from getting into them, but when he hummed she could practically hear the right corner of his lips curling upwards and the little crease of that brief, suppressed smile of his. He even let out that short practically inaudible breathy puff that wrapped around a chuckle.

The cold path the kolto was making down her forehead was stopped short by the warmth of Cassian's fingers brushing the drop away. She heard the burbling sound of liquid dripping on liquid, the plip plop plip filled his pause with noise. There was a slosh, more dripping and a brief splash.

Jyn took the soft hum that followed as her cue to keep still and drew in another breath, if needed.

"Not killing him," Cassian finally answered in a low, soft voice that went up at the end. He was gently brushing the cloth around the wound, Jyn could feel the light yet firm pressure of his fingertip. "I promised Hera I will get him back to her in one piece," a short chuckle laced the ending of his statement.

"I admire her commitment, truly," Jyn said in a brisk tone, "He can be a real pain in the—OUCH!"

A small smile tugged at Cassian's mouth, but he averted her gaze, sheepishly.

"Sorry. Just being thorough."

She should have been more careful. The wounds were deep. She'd been extremely lucky that the horns hadn't jabbed at her eyes or anywhere near, as Cassian had reminded in an utterly concerned voice, wrinkles plaguing his face in a frown while inspecting the wounds with wary, tentative fingers. How many horns did that Zabrak even had, Jyn wondered biting down the rim of her tongue, doing her best to keep any physical manifestation of her discomfort at bay. Still, this was ridiculous. A few bacta patches would have solved the issue, but Cassian insisted that given the depth of the injuries they may scar if applying bacta alone—

Jyn was pretty sure kolto was not as effective as bacta, for that matter. She had reminded Cassian of this fact, her voice a rather low rustle. He had smiled, a calmness to his smile and a twinkle to the way his eyes lit up that she didn't recognize. 

"Remedio de mamá," his whisper had been laced with fondness, the softness of his voice caressing the words. It had been clearly more to himself than an actual answer to counter-act her argument. "I trust my mother's judgement better on this. I have more than a handful of childhood experiences to know it works better than bacta alone."

The tension on her shoulders gave in when a smile broke through at the memory, making her frown of annoyance tremble and crumble down. She found herself wrapping her fingers around his wrist and giving a short squeeze when he bent forward again to tend to the cuts. Cassian looked at her, brown eyes locking with hers in a soft gaze, a gaze which even curled the corners of his mouth even though he had clamped his lips together. 

His finger swiped the cloth over the wounded skin, Jyn clenched her jaw at the sting. Cassian's even breathing made her face tingle. It didn't help either that he was this close— it was her turn to press her lips together to hide a smile that was trying to crept its way to the surface. She sneaked glances at his face, such degree of proximity actually getting in the way of her getting a proper look. She could tell he was engrossed by the task at hand, because he did not even flinch when her hand meandered to rest on the curve of his flexed arm.

Jyn wanted nothing more than to close the gap between them and kiss him, on the lips, chaste and soft and needy and hungry, all at once... maybe even get advantage of his slightly parted lips, swallow the surprise of his exhaled whispered yelp.

It had been weeks since they had last seen each other and upon his arrival at base, what did the Alliance do? Send him back on another mission, of course. 

At the start, Jyn heart had sunk, and she may have also directed not a set of very nice epithets to Draven, who apparently couldn't spare Cassian even a few hours of rest before summoning him again —not that Jyn had much literal resting in mind in store for him, particularly considering what Cassian had whispered into her ear in the hangar, making her fist his jacket and grunt in his chest, their embrace skilfully hiding her fluster.

And when she saw some sort of silver lining in the fact she had been appointed to join the small team, she soon realized that her apparent luck clearly was expired, because Bridger (of all people!) was also in. It wasn't bad enough that Cassian and her had to be apart for so long, sometimes for months, now any sort of chance to make up for lost time during the journey through hyperspace had been stomped on by a hoard of wild banthas.

And of course that, in retrospective and considering how the mission had ended up unfolding, Bridger and his unnerving self being there had proven to be actually a good call. 

Still, it didn't do much to ease the longing that had been uncomfortably tugging at Jyn's chest for weeks.

"You could have just... put some bacta patches and be done with it," there was a faint slosh when the cloth dropped into the container filled with kolto, "this is taking way too long."

Again, Cassian suppressed a smile. This time, though, he dabbed a cold sticky gelatinous substance on each of the now disinfected and clean wounds. Bacta. At last. However, a cling, a clank, a squeak, a few soft crackles rang out. Jyn let out another loud breath. The unmistakable sound of a bandage package being tore open followed her sigh of discomfort soon enough.

"Like I've said, I am being thorough." Cassian reminded her. His voice dropped to almost a whisper, hands careful and cautious while pressing the bacta coated bandage in place. Gently, he brushed her hair up and out of the way as he held the bandage onto the wound with medical tape, "Plus, not that there are many things to do," he muffled around the tape roll he was holding with his teeth.

Cassian frowned, Jyn felt the brush of the bandage as he pulled it upwards. A sigh escaped her lips, Cassian quirked an eyebrow at her and she had to resort to all her inner will to not roll her eyes at him. However, apparently he wasn't going to let it drop, for after tossing the tape into the open med-kit he retorted in a rather amused voice, "would you rather go spend your time on the cockpit? With Bridger and Chopper?"

Jyn bit the inside of her cheek and twiddled her fingers, before letting out a "I am pretty sure _we_ can find something interesting to do," she made sure to give a squeeze to his arm at the we, besides stressing and giving a tinge of teasing to her utterance in the places that called for it, though in the end she felt compelled to sound repetitive, " _together_."

"We're on duty," he declared, though the seriousness in his tone quivered when he added, "Lieutenant."

Jyn was sure there was a shadow of a smile playing around his lips. She would have snorted, but shot him a knowing look of half lidded eyes, a side smile ready and a dimple on her cheek, before retorting in a biting remark, "please, major," waving the excuse off cocking one eyebrow at him.

Rather than acknowledging Jyn, Cassian tapped the injured area before leaning a bit backwards, as if he were a painter contemplating a masterpiece. The corner of his mouth curled up into a tiny smile, he snorted out a chuckle before adding in a soft, though amused, tone, "there, all done."

He smiled and looked at her, that gaze that he saved for her and her alone. The gaze of soft half lidded eyes with a wrinkles by the corners of his mouth, which usually came together with a long, breathy sigh. The gaze soon become open staring on his part, never leaving her eyes.

Between them, nothing but silence travelled back and forth. This close, she could hear the sound of his even breathing, breathing that —maybe her mind was playing tricks on her— she was sure was slowly but surely quickening.

Cassian kept looking, gazing, staring at her. Jyn felt warmth spreading through her chest at the reminder, at knowing herself to be the only holder of that gaze. Her hands tingled in anticipation when the idea flashed across her mind, and before the trance got broken, she decided to take matters into her own hands.

 

Cassian sucked in a breath when the weight of Jyn was suddenly on his lap.

The medkit fell to the floor with a loud clank.

Her hair was tickling his face, his hands were hugging the warm curves and edges of her hips. He caught the mischief lighting Jyn's green eyes when she pressed her lips to his. He didn't know whether he should be worried when she felt her smile against his mouth—

Soon enough all those worries got stashed away, far away, somewhere in the back of his mind. The feeling of Jyn's lips on his, on his skin, of her touch, of her breath tickling his face, her warmth were more than distracting. The elation of her body —pressed, shifting, moving— this close to his, her teasing touches, the way her fingers felt and rubbed against every single one of his weak spots she knew by heart now.

He'd missed her. Missed the way she got under his skin, missed the feeling of peace that washed over him when he locked eyes with her, missed the way she made those shy, awkward smiles tug at his mouth under the most unpredictable of circumstances. He'd even missed the moments like this one, where she had the cheek to giggle in his face after mercilessly teasing him —though his retorts always died out, silenced in her mouth.

"I seem to be a bad influence on you, major Andor," she whispered against the curve of his neck. Her breath was hot on his skin, his hand found the dip of her back, "to think I am making you disregard your duties as a major of the Alliance."

If Cassian would have liked to waste breath answering to Jyn's teasing, he would have answered that he could easily pin the work on Bridger later. But discussing the urgency of reports seemed too much of a trifling matter to be having a conversation about when they had almost an entire standard day of travelling ahead of them, particularly with this situation —and more pressing matters— at hand.

Jyn yelped and wrapped her legs around his waist when he rose to his feet, propelling her along with him.

Maybe he'd have to tell Bridger that instead of two drops and jumps to hyperspace to cover their tracks, they needed to do four. Just to be extra careful. Just in case the Empire had managed to follow them. The Alliance would rather they arrived a few hours later than expected than early and with a Star destroyer flanking them.

* * *

 

"I should thank you, major Andor."

Cassian almost frowned at Kanan Jarrus when he delivered the comment off-handedly. He was certainly puzzled, but managed to keep a composed expression and gave a slight bow —it had been always sort of confusing for him how to behave around Jarrus, even though the man had assured more than once that he shouldn't be dispensed any sort of special treatment or respect.

The Jedi was staring at the whiteness of Hoth spreading into the horizon with those eyes of his that couldn't look. But Cassian knew he'd other ways of seeing. Like Chirrut, he'd the Force, though his grasp and closeness to it was deeper than the Guardian's could ever be. Which, in practice, meant that he'd gone through the trouble of masking his confusion for nothing, because Kanan had surely felt it pulsing through the Force that wrapped and moved around him —and judging by the way the corners of his mouth curled, that seemed to be the case.

"Thank you, master Jarrus, though it escapes me why."

"No formalities are needed, major. If anything, after Scarif, it should be me who should bow before you," there was a pause, he turned, those steely blue-ish eyes seemed to focus on his face, "after all, you're close to us—" he chuckled, "ever since that first time we arrived on Yavin."

"Once we bridged our differences, yes," Cassian agreed, all to aware of how sceptical he had been about these groups of Jedi and an old clone trooper working alongside him, even though him having been so guarded clashed if one were to consider his close relationship with General Tano.

"Oh, don't we all," a wider smile with genuine build lit up his face, "it's an ever on-going process when we meet people, isn't it?" there was a ring of amusement to his voice, and the way his eyebrow quirk gave Cassian a hint where this conversation was going to.

He cleared his throat, "it is."

There was a pause, the wind howling and the blizzard whistling filled the silence between them.

Cassian was expecting Kanan to make another comment regarding Jyn, not directly of course. He suspected as much ever since he came to know he'd been behind Jyn staying —or rather, the chat Jyn had with Kanan seemed to have convinced her to stay in the rebellion and push for Rogue One to stay together, as a team.

"My former padawan seems more focused on improving his meditation techniques," Kanan said, and Cassian didn't know exactly what to answer to that, "I have always told him he needs to keep himself grounded, perceptive to the Force but mindful where he treads on," another smile tugged at the man's lips, "seems you taught him a valuable lesson."

Now Cassian was positively puzzled. "If you're speaking about the mission on Tatooine, it's me who should be thanking you... he saved Jyn's life and—"

Kanan let out a clear laughter. Cassian's frown deepened.

"You misunderstand me, major. Ezra has always had a tendency to use his abilities in ways I advise him not to. Surely, being able to tap into the Force and feel those around you, emotions mostly, some say that thoughts even, may be a resourceful skill while undercover or even in the middle of a fight—"

Oh, kriff. He really didn't want Kanan to finish that thought if it entailed what he was thinking it entailed.

"Not so much when off-duty, even if there's someone who may have piqued his interests," Kanan's smile widened the moment realization hit Cassian, "thanks to you, Jyn and you, major, I gather Ezra won't be making the same mistake in the near future."

This was definitely intell Cassian _absolutely_ needed to keep to himself.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading and I hope you've enjoyed the story :) Feedback is most welcomed!


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